Will Sk8 the Infinity Become a Gay Romance?

Sk8 the Infinity is filmmaker Hiroko Utsumi’s latest homoerotic smash, but can it go beyond queerbaiting and become a homosexual romance?

Hiroko Utsumi’s latest anime, Sk8 the Infinity, is her first original series. While she’s been animating since the mid-2000s on episodes like Full Metal Panic! The Second Raid and The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Utsumi is best known for directing Free! and Banana Fish in the previous decade.

Banana Fish featured several canon queer characters, whereas Free! had plenty of homoeroticism but no canonical romance between its athletic stars. After three episodes, it’s still unclear whether Sk8 the Infinity will fall into Free Queerbaiting !’s patterns or Banana Fish’s canon queerness.

WARNING: this article will spoil some scenes in the first three episodes.

Sk8 The Infinity Sets Up Multiple Queer-Coded Characters

Sk8 the Infinity’s first three episodes, at the very least, introduce a number of characters who defy gender stereotypes and could be called queer-coded. In one of the bumpers, Shadow, a skater dressed like a reject from the band KISS, transforms into a Sailor Moon-inspired magical girl. Cherry Blossom is a mysterious womanizer whose relationship with fellow skater Joe is tsundere-like. At the conclusion of the third episode, Adam, the possible big evil, tries to caress the leg of the supporting protagonist Langa.

The connection between Reki and Langa, the two lead characters, is the show’s main focus and the big question in terms of LGBTQ representation. Langa, a transfer student from Canada, is an experienced snowboarder learning to skateboard for the first time. Reki is a skating aficionado who has enjoyed the sport his entire life. Langa is a socially uncomfortable character who is reticent and under-expressive at times, whereas Reki is a puppy-dog of a human being who bounces with joy when talking about skating.

Reki teaches Langa how to skate and the techniques of the sport, and the two characters become good friends. While they are obviously closest friends right away, they have a closeness that borders on romantic attraction. The two lie next to each other, are physically affectionate, and look at each other tenderly. Reki watches Langa skate with his eyes wide and his face flushed at the end of the first episode.

Reki is undecided about whether he admires Langa’s snowboarding-skateboarding skills or Langa himself. Langa, on the other hand, is normally quite reticent, but in private with Reki, he displays an emotional range that he doesn’t even exhibit to his mother. Langa is clearly opening up to Reki at a rapid pace.

Is Sk8 The Infinity Queer Or Just Queerbaiting?

There is currently no indication that Sk8 the Infinity is planning a same-sex romance. Sk8 the Infinity’s possible queerness, on the other hand, feels more genuine and less like queerbaiting because of the lack of overt indications. Free! frequently queerbaited its viewers by teasing same-sex partnerships but never following through. Many fans grew frustrated with all of the homoeroticism as the characters repeatedly engaged in heteronormative conduct. It’s as if the writers are begging for attention if they tease something hard enough but don’t deliver.

At this point, Sk8 the Infinity can only be likened to Yuri!!! on Ice. Despite the fact that Yuri!!! on Ice is primarily a lesbian love story, overt romance was not implied until Episode 6, and even overt fan service sequences were kept to a minimum early on (the bathhouse scene aside). Sk8 the Infinity might go any way at this stage, but Reki and Langa’s relationship appears to be following in the footsteps of Yuri and Victor thus far.

It can go off into a gay romance or stick to its original course of close closest friends. The odds, though, appear to be in favor of a Reki-Langa romantic conclusion to the series.